SPIN chat to Bishan Bedi

SPIN’s chief writer George Dobell chats to Bishan Bedi

There were few sights in cricket as beautiful as Bishan Bedi in full flow. His left-arm spin claimed 266 wickets in his 67 Tests and he must be considered among the finest practitioners of his craft.

But behind the grace lay an iron fist. Bedi always had strong views; views that saw him forfeit an ODI when he was captain of India and declare a Test innings as a protest over intimidatory bowling.

Here, in an exclusive interview with Spin’s chief writer, George Dobell, Bedi discusses his concerns over the modern game but reveals his optimism for its future.

Is finger spin a dying art?

It shouldn’t be, no. It’s very difficult for spinners now with better equipment, smaller boundaries and the spread of one-day cricket. But the main problem is that the elbow is so pronounced in bowling now. Bowling should come from the shoulder and involve the fingers and wrists, but too many of today’s bowlers use their elbow.

There’s also too much emphasis on dot balls. It seems to be they are the holy grail for spinners and the urge to bowl wicket-taking balls is dying. But a wicket-taking ball is a dot ball automatically.

You know, if I was bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, I couldn’t prevent him from scoring. But I could get him out. Spinners shouldn’t be used as stock bowlers; they should look to strike and take wickets.

Were you always able to gain some turn?

Always. I always spun it in the air and I always found turn off the pitch. Always. In England, India, Australia, West Indies or anywhere else. The reason that some bowlers don’t today is that they just roll the ball out of their hands. And the reason they do that is because they are terrified of conceding runs. They don’t give the ball enough air, either.

I talked to Shane Warne and Stuart Macgill about it. I told them to remember that a ball that is driven back over your head for six is always a good ball. I told them to concentrate on taking wickets and not to worry too much about the runs. Warne said ‘but it’s disappearing too often,’ but it’s wickets that count.

I used to clap batsmen who hit me for six. It was quite genuine. It was a delight to be punished by Sobers. A delight. He was such a superb player that I used to marvel at his skill and grace. But getting him out was an even bigger delight. My biggest regret is that my bowling was never punished by Don Bradman. I was watching a Test in Australia once when someone said ‘wouldn’t it have been good to see Bish bowl at Bradman.’ Lindsay Hassett, who was sitting there, said ‘he’d have been murdered’, but I would have been quite happy to be ‘murdered’ by such a player.

Would you have enjoyed playing Twenty20 cricket?

[Disgusted look] No. I know lots of players don’t enjoy playing it.

Twenty20 is the worst thing that could have happened to cricket. It doesn’t promote cricket; it robs people of real cricket.

How can you compare the drama of the Test in Cardiff with rotten Twenty20? You wouldn’t play golf over three holes, would you? And you wouldn’t play football over 10 minutes? So why do you do this to cricket.

It’s like sexual performance. Do you try and get it over with in a jiffy? No. The more delay, the more fun you have. If you rush it, there is little fun.

Anyway, I don’t think Twenty20 will last; the bubble will prick. It’s about cheap thrills. There are cheerleaders and fools in the crowd hoping the camera will settle upon them. The novelty will wear off; how many sixes can you watch before it becomes boring?

It’s not a contest. Bowlers don’t get batsmen out; batsmen get themselves out as they attempt to hit another six.

Did anyone ever reverse sweep you?

No. Never. It was considered unethical. I consider it a vulgar shot and not at all exciting.

It is a grossly unfair shot. If you change the grip then a left-hander becomes a right hander; that’s not fair. It’s the same as a bowler running in to bowl right-arm and then bowling with his left. There are implications for fielding positions – a bowler is only allowed two men behind square leg, but which side is square leg – and a batsman can’t be out if the ball pitches outside leg stump; but if he’s changed his grip, which is his leg stump?

A cricketer’s job isn’t just to play to the gallery, you know. It’s to adhere to the rules and the spirit of the game. Just because they’re playing T20 doesn’t absolve them of responsibility to the game.

Does today’s finger spinner have to bowl the ‘doosra’?

The ‘doosra’ is a chuck; it’s that simple.

You know what doosra means? It means the other one. Well, to me, it’s like a man has a wife and then he has ‘the other one’. It’s an immoral delivery.

So, no. No-body should be chucking. We need to stamp out this menace.

You believe Murali chucks?

I don’t want to lower myself to talking about him but yes, he chucks every ball.

I don’t know how we got to the stage where the 15% rule came in. It has given bowlers blanket permission to chuck. And once you’re a chucker, you’re always a chucker.

Look, it doesn’t matter if you steal £5 or £5 million. If you steal, you’re a thief. It’s the same with chucking; a little; a lot, I don’t care. It shouldn’t happen.

Some bowlers have been clever. Saqlain Mushtaq only chucked his doosra, so he was careful not to over bowl it. But Murali chucks every ball. He doesn’t have 700 Test wickets; he has 700 Test run outs. Harbhajan Singh is another chucker. But tell me this: why has [Johan] Botha been the only one told not to bowl the doosra?

Mendis doesn’t bowl the ‘doosra.’ It’s as clear as clear can be. He bowls the off-break and the leg-break. I’ve studied him in minute detail and can tell you, he doesn’t chuck it. He’s a special, almost unique bowler. He is very strong and fit.

Why do you think Shane Warne was never accused of chucking? I’ll tell you: because he didn’t. So it’s not just a case of finding fault with Murali because he has taken 700 wickets. It’s because I believe that what he is doing is wrong. It is damaging the game.

What do you say to those who say you are stuck in the past?

I say to them that the game hasn’t changed. The pitch is the same length; the ball is the same weight and the stumps are the same height. It is a lovely, simple game.

Why are we hell bent on destroying the character of the game? We are tampering far too much. I am a proud purist and I see this as a gentleman’s game. If I am involved in any change, I want it to be for the betterment of cricket.

I know my words may hurt people and I regret that. But I do feel a responsibility – a duty – to speak out as I love this game and I hate to see it damaged. I know commentators who are not allowed to talk about the issue and umpires who are not allowed to call bowlers who they believe are chucking, so I feel it is up to me.

Great players such as [he names a very prominent and very recently retired Australian cricketer] came up to me recently and said ‘thank-you for having the courage to keep speaking out; we’re with you all the way.’

And [he names one of the umpires who officiated in one of Murali’s most successful Tests] said to me, ‘he’s a chucker’. But when I said to him, ‘why don’t you call ‘no-ball’ then’, he answered ‘why should I stick my head out?’ The umpires are gagged.

But even if I was to be in a majority of one, I would carry on speaking out. I care about this game too much not to do so.

Did you know that I was reported for chucking? Yes. It was the reason I left county cricket. And do you know why? It was just after the John Lever affair [where Bedi had complained that Lever was shining the ball by utilising strips of vaseline he wore on his forehead] so they were making sure they got me back. It was all very political.

Donald Carr was secretary of the TCCB [the forerunner of the ECB]. He told me he was sorry and that he had been a left-arm spinner himself, but that he had a dirty job to do. I told him if he had the guts to ban me, I would take on the lot of them. I would challenge the whole establishment. I mean, they had photos of me bowling on the wall of the indoor school, yet here they were telling me I was a chucker?

I challenged it, but the Indian cricket board let me down.

It’s all politics now. In the past, Australia and England had a veto [at the ICC]. That may have been wrong politically, but it was probably right for the game. It hurts me to say that, but it’s true. There wouldn’t be all this chucking going on if they still had that veto.

Last year in India 38 spinners were reported because of their actions. They all came back the same. They always do.

What do you teach the young cricketers that you coach?

I try to rectify what they may have learned elsewhere or what they may have learned from TV. I teach them to ‘walk’ when they are out and never to show any dissent to an umpire. I believe that cricket is still a gentleman’s game. I tell them to be honest.

Was playing county cricket enjoyable?

Oh, yes. County cricket was terrific. I remember having a beautiful tussle with Barry Richards once; he said that an innings of 48 he made against me was the innings of his life.

You know, the greatest compliment I ever received came when Jim Laker said that his dream was to see Ray Lindwall bowling from one end and me from the other. What a lovely thing to say!

Ken Barrington was the best English batsman I bowled against. Boycott was good technically but but quite boring. He played for Boycott. I remember he was dropped for slow scoring [at Leeds in 1967]. So the next time we played [at Edgbaston, a couple of Tests later], I came on first change, knowing he needed to attack. I drew him forward and beat him in the air and off the pitch. He was out stumped for the first time in Test cricket.

Mike Brearley, too. I remember he had written something in one of the newspapers, criticising the England batsmen for not using their feet to the spinners. So the next time we played, I knew he would feel he had to come down the pitch. So I gave the ball some air and beat him twice: in the air and off the pitch, to have him stumped.

What do you think of England’s spinners?

I think Swann is one of the good ones. He is a good, clean bowler. And I think Monty is criticised unfairly. He may be short of confidence at the moment, but he’s still a good bowler. I think he just needs to bowl more. It’s rubbish that he’s one dimensional, he just needs to play more. I would love to talk to them and see if I could be of any help.

I used to bowl for seven or eight hours a day. I was obsessed with bowling. Youngsters today would not believe it; they bowl four overs and have to be rested so they don’t hurt their backs. What nonsense!

I was a very ordinary cricketer in most ways. But God gave me a gift and I worked very hard.

I had a good coach, too. He would carry my bag for me, because he thought I must not get the wrong muscles in my arm. He wouldn’t let me play tennis, either. I’m not sure they think about it as much today.

If you had your time again, would you still declare against the West Indies in 1976 [when Bedi declared India‘s first innings with six wicket down as a protest against the West Indies‘ short bowling]?

I’d definitely declare again. It was a matter of principle. At the time there were fast bowlers delivering five or six bouncers an over and getting away with it. By declaring I woke them [the ICC] up. It took a while for them to bring in rules to change things, but it all started there.

The same with the ODI in Pakistan [at Sahiwal in 1978]. Sarfraz Nawaz bowled bouncer after bouncer – all of them wides – but the umpires were so biased never called any of them. So I called the team in and forfeited the match. Then  no-one could pretend there wasn’t a problem, could they?

You know, one of the guys that called the loudest for neutral umpires was Imran Khan. And that despite the fact that he benefited from the Pakistan umpires. I have a lot of respect for that man.

Are you optimistic about the future of the game?

I am. Very. Bradman threw out the chuckers – he threw out four in one go – so we can do the same. We just need to be strong. You know, I love talking about cricket. I hope I die talking about cricket.